Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Make a smooth surface with Encaustic paint

I’m in the middle of making a grid
painting. The painting will be made up of 25 encaustic color blocks. This
painting is designed to hang on what is known as a French cleat system, which
ensures that the painting will hang level. Because each painting is hung
individually, it is also possible to change the arrangement of the panels in
the painting, which would in turn change the painting as a whole.

I was recently listening to a
Charlie Rose interview with the painter Damian Herst. They were discussing
Herst’s most recent work, “The Polka-Dots.” As you may know, Mr. Herst does not
paint his own pictures, and the only exceptions he gives to his assistants that
do the painting is to not have two of the same color next to each other, and
have the colors be chosen at random. Herst merely acknowledged one of his
assistants when they pointed out that it would be more random to actually have
two dots of the same color next to each other. That comment, got me thinking, and I designed this painting,
to give the viewer control of the of the color placement, working within
guidelines set by me.

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About Me

I attended Ramapo state College where I studied welded steel sculpture and life drawing, while working full time with a furniture designer / builder. I worked with the company for several years and continued to attend classes at Ramapo and Parsons School of design in NYC. In 1994 I started my art and design company and made original art and furniture for clients throughout NYC and New Jersey. In 1999 my wife, Laurel Bissonette and I opened the Laurel Tracey gallery in Red bank, NJ specializing in contemporary American art. I’m best known for large abstractions incorporating a variety of mediums including iron, stainless steel, encaustic and lacquer.